AUTHOR=Lv Jing , Chen Peirui , Wu Jianqiang , Hu Caihong 

TITLE=Prognostic value of pretreatment Controlling Nutritional Status score in esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Pathology and Oncology Research

VOLUME=29

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.por-journal.com/journals/pathology-and-oncology-research/articles/10.3389/pore.2023.1611221

DOI=10.3389/pore.2023.1611221

ISSN=1532-2807

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background and purpose:</bold> The association between the pretreatment Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients remains unclear. The aim of this meta-analysis was to further elucidate the prognostic role of the pretreatment CONUT score in esophageal cancer based on current evidence.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and CNKI databases were searched up to 27 September 2022. The primary and secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS)/cancer-specific survival (CSS), and the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were pooled for analysis.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 11 retrospective studies involving 3,783 participants were included. The pooled results demonstrated that a higher pretreatment CONUT score was significantly related to poor OS (HR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.31–2.54, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), and subgroup analysis stratified by pathological type showed similar results. In addition, the pretreatment CONUT score was associated with poor PFS (HR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10–1.28, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and CSS (HR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.77–4.02, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The pretreatment CONUT score was predictive of worse prognosis in esophageal cancer, and patients with a higher CONUT score showed worse survival.</p>